Newspaper Page Text
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
THE WHEELWRIGHT’S SHOP.
rllaff was on a Saturday morn
ing, when Harry was a
httle boy, that his father
gylßiß told him he was going into
Imy* town, and would take him
"IB with him. His father was going
Jl to the wheelwright’s shop to have
one of the wheels of the wagon
9 fixed. I will tell you what was the
matter with the wagon. It was a two
horse wagon, and was used on the farm
for hauling. It had a body to it, but the
body was so arranged that it could be
taken off, and then there was nothing
left but the running part of the wagon.
The body was always taken off, when
Jim, the negro man, wanted to haul
wood, so that the sticks of wood could
belaid lengthwise between the wheels.
There were two reasons why the body
was taken off when wood was hauled:
first, because there was danger that
the large and heavy sticks of wood
might break the body; and secondly,
because the sticks were too long to go
inside of the body. Well, one day
Jim, the negro man, was hauling wood
on the wagon, and had put on a pretty
large load. ITarry was with him; for
Jim was a good-natured fellow, and
often gave him a ride on the loaded
wagon.
As I was telling you, they were coming
home with a heavy load of wood, and
Harry was sitting on top of the wood,
telling Jim a story which ho had jost
read in his paper. There was a long
rocky hill about half a mile from the
house, and Harry always dreaded this
hill, for it made the wagon shake so that
he ’could hardly hold on. They were
both interested in the story, however, so
that they had started down the lull al
most before they noticed it, and the
horses were holding back with all theii
might. When they had got about half
way down, a stick of wood worked out
of its place and got in between the spokes,
and before Jim could stop the horses, one
of the spokes had snapped in two.
They had pretty hard work stopping
the horses and getting the stick of v ood
out, but they succeeded at last, and with
out further damage than the breaking of
one spoke. The wagon was a strong one,
so that they had no difficulty in getting
home with their load, even with a broken
wheel.
Now, you boys will understand wl»\
the wagon had to go to the wheelwright s.
You know what a wheelwright is. A
shipwright is one who builds ships; a
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
millwright is one who builds mills; and
wheelwright is one who makes and mends
the wheels of wagons, carriages, and
other vehicles. The shop of this wheel
wright was near the village hotel. You
can see the swinging sign of the hotel
just in front of the horses, while the hotel
itself is that large house further on, with
the double piazza.
When Harry’s father drove up to the
wheelwright’s shop, the owner of the
shop and one of his men came up to ex
amine the wagon wheel, while two others
stood in the door. Harry asked one of
the men if he could get a drink ot water,
and the man told him he would find some
in the shop ; this is why you do not see
Harry in the wagon.
It took several hours to mend the
wheel, and while they were waiting, Har
ry’s father took him to one or two places
' ; '" w '™"
in the village. First, they went to a
store, where his father made some pur
chases. They went next to the news
paper office, where Harry saw some men
setting type, and another ju in ting the
paper on a hand press, while a boy no
larger than himself stood behind the
press inking the form with a roller. He
was very much interested in all he saw
at the printing office. One of these da\ s,
I may tell you little folks something
about the art of printing.
When they got back to the wheel
wright’s shop, the wagon was mended,
and after paying the man for his work,
Harry’s father hitched the horses in and
they were ready to start home. They
first went to the store and got the things
his father had bought, and then they
drove home, reaching there some time
before dark.
“You might be as gentle and as ami
able at home as when out among stran
gers,” said a sister in reproof of her
brother’s rudeness of speech.
“So I might, sis,” was his good-hu
moral reply. “ Thank you for the re
minder. It was needed, and shall not be
forgotten.”
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
VANITY MORTALLLY WOUNDED
BY A GANDER.
BY CALUE.
KATTIE GLENN was a
pretty little girl, whose
gave evi
dence of a pleasant dis
position. She was an
object of tender love to
stian mother, and it was
3h pain that she saw the
f vanity in her child-
How to crush them, before they devel
oped, was her most earnest prayer, and
finally she concluded to leave the ease of
Hattie in the hands of the All-Wise;
praying that, in the events of his correct-
ing providence, she might be cured.
It happened about this time, that
Hattie started out in company with
Ella, a young companion, to make some
visits.
Whilst she was dressing to go, her
mother noticed, with pain, the great
anxiety she showed about her looks.
Before starting, she turned to give
her mamma a good-bye kiss, and said,
smiling,
“ How does your little girl look ? ”
“Think less of how you look, dar-
ling, than of what you really are. Bo
sure that your heart is filled with good
thoughts, and you will always look well
I don’t want to see you suffer, my child;
hut if you indulge vanity, it will give
you pain in the end.”
Hattie knew very well what was meant,
and it made her serious, so that she
walked on to meet her friend with a very
quiet and modest step. But by the time
she and Ella began their walk, the old
habit had returned, and she minced along,
looking vain and silly.
They made one or two visits without
anything remarkable occurring. But,
alas! Hattie had never before shown so
much vanity. Ella, who was a very sen
sible girl, began to be ashamed of her
companion, and hurried through with
their walk.
The little girl they next called upon
was away from home; but the ladies o
the house wore entertaining some visitors
the parlor, and they called m the two
yomm girls. They detained them some
thne°and it was evident that the two
young men were having their own amuse
ment at the fine-lady airs of foolish little
H 'siio was flattered by the notice taken
of her, and thought it all occasioned by
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